Overcoming Fear & Helplessness | Anxiety Support

You’ve seen it in movies and TV shows.

Lightning fast and professional thieves who snatch mobile phones and wallets out of hands or pockets. But you might not think it will happen to you.

That’s how I felt too.

Before I found out that this is a gigantic problem, and that I became part of the gloomy statistics.

“No more cliche”

I had “womaned” myself up and gone on my first solo trip. The choice fell on London, a city I have been to several times before. It felt safe when I first went on my own.

I was proud, and felt a sense of mastery. Via a private story on Snapchat, I diligently shared with my friends:

Blissfully unaware that it would be my last message for a day.

A short time later I am at a traffic light. I’m starting to approach my hotel, but I’m just going to check the map one last time.

One second I have my mobile, and the next second it’s gone. Only the cord for the headset remains in my hands.

Everything goes so fast that I don’t have time to think about what actually happened.

– Heartbreaking

In 2025, mobile phones will be almost our entire lives for many of us.

For my part, it was about the code to the door at the hotel, plane tickets, maps, bank cards and contact with friends and family. What was I supposed to do now?

– Behind each of these thefts is a victim. People have their whole lives stored on their phones, and it can be heartbreaking when they’re stolen, London Police Chief Detective Mark Gavin told The New York Times earlier this fall.

Police in London have seen a huge increase in the number of mobile phone thefts. Last year alone, it happened 80,000 times.

That means 219 thefts every single day.

Impossible to trace

Those behind these thefts are extremely professional.

According to the article from the New York Times and a case from VG, the stolen phones are wrapped in aluminum foil. In this way, the thieves make it impossible to trace them.

I logged in as quickly as I could to “Find my Iphone” on the mobile phone of a completely random girl I stopped on the street. And sure enough, what greeted me was the message: “No location found.”

But because this problem has become so massive in London, the theft of phones is high on the agenda of the Metropolitan Police.

Recently, they faced a major breakthrough.

Gigantic action

After more than a year of investigation, police have cracked down on a large criminal network suspected of smuggling up to 40,000 stolen mobile phones from the UK to China in the past 12 months.

This accounts for up to 40 percent of all phones that are stolen in London.

– This is the biggest action against mobile phone theft and robbery in the UK, in the most extraordinary set of operations of this type that we have ever carried out, says the head of “Operation Echosteep“, Andrew Featherstone, in a press release.

The campaign has received praise from, among others, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

– I want to thank the police for taking Londoners’ concerns seriously and carrying out their biggest ever coordinated campaign to combat mobile phone crime.

Police Minister in Great Britain, Sarah Jones, has a clear message for those behind it.

– The unprecedented scale of this operation sends a clear message: If you are involved in mobile phone theft – either on the street, behind shop counters or as part of an organized criminal group – we will come after you, says Jones in the press release from the police.

– Important to be aware of

Where my phone ends up is hard to know. But one thing I know:

I have never felt so helpless and scared as when I was standing all alone on the streets of London, without a phone.

Also, my phone wasn’t locked when it was plucked out of my hands. Thus, the thieves had access to my entire life. And it was a very unpleasant thought.

Sigmund Clementz in If Forsikring confirms that this has become an increasingly widespread problem.

– Those who are pickpockets recognize tourists very quickly because they may be dressed differently, they may seem unsure of where they are, or stand out in other ways. It is important to be aware of this, says Clementz to TV 2.

Barcelona, ​​Rome, London and Paris are cities that stand out when it comes to reports of pickpocketing at the insurance company.

– This is something that is covered by general travel insurance, because it is considered theft or robbery. But deductibles will always occur, explains Clementz.

He has several tips on how to avoid being exposed to this:

This I have learned

A day alone in London, without a phone, has taught me a thing or two anyway.

It IS possible to travel without a mobile phone. As long as you have pen, paper and a reference number, you will actually get on board.

I can do much more than I think.

Strangers abroad are not scary. The vast majority just want to help you, and be a fellow human being.

And Norwegians may have something to learn from that. Because when I finally got to Norway, I was completely exhausted.

“Then the tears came too”

On the train, for the first time I had time to think about what I had really been through. Then the tears came.

My body had gone into a kind of survival mode for the past 24 hours, but only then did it dawn on me how scared I really had been.

Despite the fact that I was sitting on the train and openly crying, not a single person asked “Are you okay?”

Yes, it can be uncomfortable, but it costs so little. And a little recognition at that moment would have meant so much.

I also hope that this trip has taught me that. Because next time I will be the person who dares to ask.